One Mistake After Another?
by BethSHeartbeat
Summary: Zoe finds out that she's not infertile but with her body clock ticking and her desperation to get pregnant now that she knows she can, what will she resort to to get what she wants? *More characters will be added to the character list later but I don't want to give anything away*
1. Chapter 1

'We made a mistake.' Who knew that those would be the best words that she'd ever hear. Once upon a time she'd been told that she wouldn't be able to have kids, to have the joy of raising a family. It had all been a mistake from the gynaecologist, it hadn't been until her tablets to regulate periods had stopped working, and she'd gotten a new gynaecologist that she was told that she wasn't infertile. However a new problem stemmed from this seedling of knowledge having been planted in her head, for someone on the wrong side of 40 her biological clock was ticking. She'd been told that as she got older the less likely it was that she'd get pregnant and the more likely that the pregnancy would have more complications. Being a doctor, this was something that she'd already known about pregnancy in older women but it was completely different being told it when you're in that situation.

With no husband or no boyfriend on the scene the chances of having the family that she'd dreamed of when she was younger, and then only wanted again once she'd been told that she couldn't have it, seemed unlikely.

Zoe lay in her bed struggling to comprehend what she'd been told that day. She was now a woman crazed, the idea of not having a baby after the rollercoaster of problems that she'd rode just to get to this point, was a mad one. Whatever it took now she was going to have a baby, she even had a plan as to how she was going to achieve it. The plan itself was not a well thought through plan and certainly had a few holes in it, but then with the mindset she was in the fact that she'd even come up with anything that resembled a plan was a feat to be proud of.

She walked over to a cupboard on the other side of her bedroom and pulled out a 2014 diary, if this was going to be done then it was going to be done properly. Thinking back she doodled in when her last period had been and from there tried to figure out when she'd been ovulating, something easier said when done when you were anything but regular and had tablets in case you hadn't bled in three months. This caused the first modification to the plan, it was now to try and have as much sex as possible.

She didn't care the means as long as at the end of it all there was a baby laying in her arms of which would grow up calling her 'mummy'.

**A/N Sorry for this being such a short start, hopefully the next chapters should be longer. There's a lot I'd like to tell you right now but then I'd almost certainly ruin it, so please just bear with me for a while. I'd also just like to tell you all now that I have a lot of ongoing fics and I'm not really great at regular updates but please don't let that put you off because once my exams are done I will be doing my best to post every other day or so. Thanks for reading and if you have read my author's note then thanks for reading my ramblings too, I shall let you get on with your day now.**

**Beth x**


	2. Chapter 2

It was yet another day in the ED where she'd have too much paper work, too many people who needed her help, and just too much general chaos with not enough hours in the day to get through it all. Connie had been supposed to ease the load but she just made Zoe more determined to do it all alone, that would be one of the downsides of her getting pregnant, she'd have to hand her role over to Connie. Paperwork was taking it's toll on Zoe after a couple of hours and her eyes were beginning to close, she needed some more excitement and the thrill and adrenaline that came with saving lives.

"So what have we got?" Zoe asked as she walked over the the station where they tended to congregate between patients.

"Well we have a woman with a severe panic attack in cubicle 2, Rita's in there working on calming her." Charlie told her.

"Okay, so that's a bed we can clear soon. What else?"

"There's a woman been brought in with severe abdo pain in cubicle 7, suspected appendisites but we're waiting for test results. There's a young boy in cubicle 4 waiting to be taken up to X-Ray..."

"Where's Max?" Zoe asked, confused as to why the boy was waiting down in the ED as opposed to up in radiology.

"He's just taken the woman involved in an RTC up to CT."

"Okay, well as soon as that's done and he's back get his leg either plastered or give him some painkillers and send him home. We need to work on clearing cubicles as fast as we can." Zoe told Charlie who obviously was well aware of what Zoe was telling him.

"Haven't you got a mountain of paperwork and reports to be reading?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. I'm getting there okay, when I finished medical school I never realised I'd signed up for mountains of paperwork, I thought it was about saving lives and that is what I'm going to do." He gave her a look that spoke a thousand words. "I'm just checking that everything's running smoothly and then I'll be going straight back to continue." She sighed as she walked past Charlie, heading towards resus.

"Nice skirt boss." Max told her cheekily as he walked by, having just brought the patient that had been up to CT back down and left her with Lily in resus.

"I don't believe for one second that you were looking at my skirt." Zoe replied, not even looking up from the file that was in her hands.

"Fine, what I should have said was nice legs!" Max almost whispered as he leaned closer to her.

"Nice try Max, there's a boy in cubicle 4 waiting to be taken up to X-Ray and it seems like you have nothing better to be doing than flirting with your boss, so off you go." Zoe told him as she smiled slightly at his repeated attempts to flirt with her. Max had walked off in a casual manner, still obviously trying to impress Zoe, to collect his next patient leaving Zoe outside her office on her own. She dialled in the code to her door and then pushed the door open with her back as her hands were pretty full.

She placed the stuff that was in her hands on top of her already full desk and sat down. For a moment she just stared at it thinking about what was of highest priority, only for a moment before a second thought entered her mind. Max clearly was trying to wear her down in an attempt to seduce her, maybe all he wanted was to say that he'd 'had' the boss. Something made her doubt that though, there'd been an obvious attraction from the moment that they'd met but as of yet she'd shown no interest. Now her previously flawed plan was beginning to come together and to her it all seemed like a good opportunity to get what she wanted.


	3. Chapter 3

"Max?" Zoe called as she stood in the entrance of her office.

"Yeah?" Max replied, noticing that it was the woman who was quickly becoming his favourite person who was calling him.

"Come in." Zoe spoke, checking that the blinds were already closed as she invited Max in, the shift was nearing its end so she had about 20 minutes to get Max onside before Connie arrived.

"What can I do for you?" Max asked as he walked into the office, instinctively closing the door behind him.

"That's a good question." Zoe spoke seductively as she moved closer to him. "Lock the door." She whispered and wasn't surprised when he did exactly what he was told before he wandered over to where she was sat on the sofa in her office.

"Are you sure Zoe?"

"We haven't even done anything yet." Zoe pointed out. No more words were spoken as suddenly her lips were on his and with in seconds he had pinned her down to the sofa, both of them desperate to get closer to the other. "How about we take this back to mine before we get interrupted?"

"Are you sure?" Max repeated his earlier question.

"I think I've made it pretty clear that I am, so if you are then meet me round the corner in 5 and I'll pick you up." Zoe spoke, still slightly breathless from their kiss.

"I'll be there." Max smiled as he got closer and kissed her again.

"Good."

"Morning." Max chirped as he woke up in Zoe's bed.

"Urgh. Is it time to get up already?" Zoe moaned sleepily.

"Yeah, I'm sure we have a little bit longer if you can get ready quickly." Max pointed out as he reached over and kissed her and saw her instantly become wide awake and just as involved in what was going on as he was.

"Well that was a brilliant way to wake up in the morning." Max smiled as he saw Zoe reach across for her phone and she finally saw the time.

"God you weren't joking when you said I'd have to get ready quickly! And don't get used to waking up like that."

"You say that but then I'm irresistible."

"Oh you really are Max, it's a wonder I managed to keep away from you for this long." Zoe spoke sarcastically as she pulled on a black bodycon dress.

"About last night?" Max began, surprising Zoe with the nerves in his voice. "Was it a one off thing?"

"That depends if you want it to be?" Zoe replied as she ran a brush through her hair and then sat down at her dressing table to do her make up. "Are you planning on getting ready for work?" Zoe asked as he still lay in her bed.

"I don't want it to just be a one time thing."

"Well that's that sorted then." She replied as he wandered over and kissed her. For a moment she felt guilty that she was using him to get pregnant but he was happy enough at getting the chance to sleep with her. It was an arrangement that Max knew nothing about but it gave both of them what they wanted.


	4. Chapter 4

They'd been inseparable for the past couple of months and yet no one knew they were together. Everyone knew that Max had a girlfriend, just no one had figured that it was Zoe.

"Zoe!" Max called through Zoe's luxury flat. "Where are you?"

"In my en suite, why?" Zoe called back as she unwrapped the box to yet another pregnancy test. She'd been taking one every Saturday and despite the amount of sex she'd been having, they repeatedly came back negative.

"I was just wondering." He replied and from his voice she could tell that he was now outside the en suite door.

"I'll be out in a few minutes." Zoe called back. He waited outside the door until he heard the tap running and then stepped inside to check that his girlfriend was okay. The sight that faced him was Zoe standing over the sink looking at a pregnancy test, while a cupboard door on the other side of the room stood open, revealing a stack of many pregnancy tests. Zoe just started at him as he saw the sight in front of him, she couldn't explain what was going on, and even if she could then she was sure he'd have left before she even got the chance.

He didn't speak for a couple of moments, he just watched the scene in front of him, putting Zoe on edge. "Are you pregnant?" He finally asked, Zoe looked at him, unable to speak she just shook her head. "I think we need to talk." Max walked out of the en-suite and sat on the end of the bed, Zoe remained in the same position trying to work out how to fix this and come off with a way that she could keep Max and sound sane.

"I know this looks strange Max, I know you're thinking that I'm crazy." Zoe spoke as she left the en suite and sat beside him on the end of the bed.

"I don't know what I think right now Zo." Max told her, unable to meet his gaze. "Are you trying to get pregnant? Because if you want a baby then you should have just talked to me."

"It's a long story Max." Zoe finally sighed.

"I have time." He replied bluntly, watching out of the corner of his eye as Zoe shuffled up the bed and lay on her pillow.

"I used to be with a doctor at the ED, we were engaged and we were trying for a baby, it never happened and that's when I was told that I was infertile."

"So why the pregnancy tests?" Max asked, not quite understanding the story.

"If you let me finish then you'd know! A couple of months ago I was single and I went to a doctor's appointment and they told me that they'd made a mistake. They told me that I could have children but that if I was going to have one then it needed to be soon before my age got in the way." The story began to add up in Max's head and he didn't like the answer that it left him with.

"You used me to get pregnant?!" He half shouted, desperate for her to tell him that he was wrong, that he'd arrived at an answer that couldn't be further from the truth but as she remained silent, he knew he was right.

"It started that way." She spoke quietly and then watched unable to process what was going on as he stood and walked towards the door.

"MAX! Wait! It started that way but you have to believe me that somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you. I love you Max, baby or no baby, I need you." Zoe wept as she tried to prevent him from leaving.

"How do I know that this isn't some desperate plot to keep me here for you to get pregnant?" Max asked, her declaration of love had opened up the jar of his feelings, he loved her two but he couldn't be with her if all she wanted from him was a baby.

"Kiss me, you'll know that I love you from one kiss."


	5. Chapter 5

Max looked a little hesitant but as he saw the love radiating from her and it was clear in her eyes. He removed his hand from the door handle, Zoe let out a deep breath that Max hadn't realised she'd been holding in. For a second he just stared at her, she looked stunning despite heartbreak and anxiety being obvious across her face, taking a step forward he took her hand and then kissed her. Zoe had been right, from a single kiss he'd felt just how much she loved him, he half questioned how he'd not realised it before.

"I love you Max." Zoe told him as she rested her forehead against his, feeling comfort in the fact that he hadn't pulled away from her.

"I love you too Zoe, I do however think we still need to talk." Max told her, knowing that no matter how they felt, that there was still things hanging heavily in the air that needed discussing. Zoe sighed slightly, she knew they needed to talk but she wasn't sure she was ready, Max, sensing her apprehension to the subject, leant down to kiss her again.

He took her hand again and led her back through to the living room of the Zoe's house, they sat on the sofa, Zoe immediately curled into Max, determined that if she was going to have this conversation then she was going to be close to him.

"So you want a baby?" Max asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"Yes but not if it means that I can't have you. I've lived my whole life without a baby, I can live with that but the thought of living without you is too much. Of course what I would like most is you and a baby but if I can't have that then I'd rather have you." Zoe told him, she wasn't sure what was going to happen between them from now but she'd finally been able to say all that she wanted to, something which made her proud of herself. Max sat for a second, considering what she'd just told him, he knew what he wanted he was just needed to convince himself that it wasn't too soon.

"I want you to Zoe, when I was walking out the door all I was thinking was what am I going to do without you. I don't want anybody else, of course one day I imagined having kids and since I plan on spending the rest of my life with you, I don't see why we couldn't have a baby. At this stage we've only been together a couple of months, I can see you're worried about your biological clock but why don't we just keep going as we are and if it happens then it happens?" Max told her, watching as Zoe sat up, propping herself up on the sofa so that she could look down at her partner.

"You want a baby?" She asked, checking that she'd heard him correctly and wasn't imagining what she wanted to hear.

"I want whatever you want Zoe, that's part of loving someone." Max reassured her, he watched her slightly as Zoe stood up and grabbed his hand. He stood up and followed her through to her bedroom. Staring at her for a second he had a moment of doubt when he wondered whether this was all still because she wanted a baby but she managed to dispel the seed of doubt in seconds.

"I just want to lay in your arms Max, I just want you beside me. We can put a film on or something but I just want to be cuddled up with you." Zoe told him, tiredness seeping into her voice. Max crawled into bed beside her and was not at all surprised as she moved slightly in the bed to rest her head on his chest. Max moved his arm around to pick up his phone from the bedside cabinet, trying not to disturb Zoe who now seemed comfortable. Zoe looked at him questioningly as he put the phone in the air, the camera facing down at them.

"Smile." He told her as he took a picture of the two of them, the picture that for months to come would sit framed in their bedroom in their shared house. Although their story had begun months before, this was a key part of it, it had gone from some sort of fling to a love story in the space of a few months, and it was a story that was nowhere near the end.

**The End **

**A/N So this fic is finished, you didn't think I'd do the predictable thing and have her get pregnant did you? Anyway, now this is the beginning of a series of fics that I will be posting, one is already up and it's called Moving Forward but expect more from this little series. **

**Beth x**


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